Moving elments in Winforms within a panel, without threads - c#

I had a task to move an element(Button, Label...) around a panel within Winforms with C#.
I solved it like this, it works:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100 - auto.Geschwindigkeit);
for (int i = 0; i < panel1.Width; i++)
{
label1.Location = new Point(i, label1.Location.Y);
label2.Location = new Point(i, label2.Location.Y);
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(50);//speed
Application.DoEvents();
}
}
But is there another way to do this, for example when I want to programm a game and I have 10 Labels(which represent a driving car), I think this would be to overloaded to work with Threads, because the CPU goes higher and higher ?! "System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(50);" would be the speed of an element, I think I need something which is more performant ?!
Thank You

Do not use Thread.Sleep for timing. Use a timer instead:
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
timer1.Interval = 100; // animation speed
timer1.Enabled = true; // starting animation
}
private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// do the replacements here
}
But honestly, I would not use controls to represent animated objects. They have a million of properties, events and other data that you do not need. Instead, I would use dedicated Car objects and custom drawing.
public class Car
{
public Size Size { get; set; }
public Color Color { get; set; }
public Point Location { get; set; }
public int Speed { get; set; }
// and whatever you need, eg. direction, etc.
}
private List<Car> cars;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
cars = new List<Car>
{
new Car { Size = new Size(30, 15), Color = Color.Blue, Location = new Point(100, 100), Speed = 1 },
new Car { Size = new Size(50, 20), Color = Color.Red, Location = new Point(200, 150), Speed = 3 },
};
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
timer1.Interval = 100; // animation speed
timer1.Enabled = true; // starting animation
}
private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
foreach (Car car in cars)
RecalculateLocation(car); // update Location by speed here
panel1.Invalidate();
}
private void panel1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
// now we are just drawing colored rectangles but you can draw car.Image or anything you want
foreach (Car car in cars)
{
using (Brush brush = new SolidBrush(car.Color))
{
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(brush, new Rectangle(car.Location, car.Size));
}
}
}

Related

Graphics DrawImage - ArgumentException: 'Parameter is not valid.'

I have timer which adds new image on the panel every second. First i create my global variable Graphics g, create timer in the construcor and start timer there. In my Panel method i create Graphics object (g = e.Graphics) and then in my timer method i use that g object to draw new image. Can't find what's the problem, here's the core code (program stops when on the first call - g.DrawImage()):
public partial class MyClass: Form
{
private Timer addImage;
private Image img;
private Graphics g;
private Point pos;
public MyClass()
{
InitializeComponent();
img = Image.FromFile("C:/image.png");
pos = new Point(100, 100);
addImage = new Timer()
{
Enabled = true,
Interval = 3000,
};
addImage.Tick += new EventHandler(AddImage);
addImage.Start();
}
private void MyPanel_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
g = e.Graphics;
}
private void AddImage(Object myObject, EventArgs myEventArgs)
{
g.DrawImage(img, pos); // ArgumentException: 'Parameter is not valid.'
MyPanel.Invalidate();
}
}
You have to draw your image in the OnPaint override because the Graphics object will be disposed. To redraw the form you can call Refresh. Also look that your that your path to the image is correct.
public partial class MyClass : Form
{
private readonly Image _image;
private readonly Point _position;
private bool _isImageVisible;
public MyClass()
{
InitializeComponent();
_image = Image.FromFile(#"C:\img.png");
_position = new Point(100, 100);
var addImageCountdown = new Timer
{
Enabled = true,
Interval = 3000,
};
addImageCountdown.Tick += new EventHandler(AddImage);
addImageCountdown.Start();
}
private void AddImage(Object myObject, EventArgs myEventArgs)
{
_isImageVisible = true;
Refresh();
}
protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
if(_isImageVisible)
{
e.Graphics.DrawImage(_image, _position);
}
base.OnPaint(e);
}
}

The simplest Paint program isn't working in C# Windows Forms

I'm plowing through the Dietle C# book one page at a time and I'm stuck.
On page 555, there's the most basic drawing program you can imagine. As you move your mouse around, it's supposed to draw an ellipse on the screen.
Well, mine doesn't.
I've checked everything possible. I've gone onto the Dietel website and downloaded the code and tried that. I think I'm doing something wrong outside of the text-based programming. I mean, there are settings and stuff in the properties windows.
I think I got it all right, but nothing seems to work. But obviously I don't have it all right or it would work.
The full code is a bit longer than what I have below, but even this simplified code doesn't work. It's supposed to draw ellipses any time you have the mouse on the screen. Studio Express does a nice job of catching a lot of syntax errors, but of course it can't catch logic errors. Any ideas as to what's wrong?
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication6
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
using (Graphics graphics = CreateGraphics())
{
graphics.FillEllipse(
new SolidBrush(Color.Blue), e.X, e.Y, 20, 20);
}
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
}
}
MouseMove Event??
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.MouseMove += new System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler(this.Form1_MouseMove);
}
I would do it like this:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private List<IDrawAble> shapes = new List<IDrawAble>();
private MyEllipse currentlyDrawing;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
currentlyDrawing = new MyEllipse() { X1 = e.X, Y1 = e.Y, X2 = e.X, Y2 = e.Y };
Invalidate();
}
private void Form1_MouseUp(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
shapes.Add(currentlyDrawing);
currentlyDrawing = null;
Invalidate();
}
private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
e.Graphics.Clear(Color.White);
foreach (var item in shapes)
{
item.Draw(e.Graphics);
}
if (currentlyDrawing != null)
{
currentlyDrawing.Draw(e.Graphics);
}
}
private void Form1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (currentlyDrawing != null)
{
currentlyDrawing.X2 = e.X;
currentlyDrawing.Y2 = e.Y;
Invalidate();
}
}
}
class MyEllipse : IDrawAble
{
public int X1 { get; set; }
public int Y1 { get; set; }
public int X2 { get; set; }
public int Y2 { get; set; }
public void Draw(Graphics g)
{
g.FillEllipse(new SolidBrush(Color.Blue), X1, Y1, X2 - X1, Y2 - Y1);
}
}
interface IDrawAble
{
void Draw(Graphics g);
}
Make sure all eventhandlers are hooked to the events of the form.
To get rid of the flickering set the DoubleBuffered Property of the Form to true.
What is it doing now?
Just to Add.
Make sure your event MouseMove is mapped with the Method Form1_MouseMove
In the Method Hieght and weight are 20 which means it is circle and not eclipse.
for to debug first replace e.X and e.Y with number in below snippet it is 0
SolidBrush redBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.Red);
// Create location and size of ellipse.
float x = 0.0F;
float y = 0.0F;
float width = 200.0F;
float height = 100.0F;
using (Graphics graphics = CreateGraphics())
{
graphics.FillEllipse(redBrush, x, y, width, height);
}

C# paint graphics from class in picturebox with mouse click

I want to paint a graphics object from a method (paint) I created in a separate class (Paintball). I want it to paint in a picturebox only when I left-click with my mouse and I want the point where I shoot to be stored in a List. When I try the code below, it doesn't shoot. Below is the class Paintball.
{
private List<Point> myClick;
public Paintball()
{
myClick = new List<Point>();
}
public void add(Point location)
{
myClick.Add(location);
}
public void paint(Graphics g, Point point)
{
g.FillEllipse(Brushes.Blue, point.X, point.Y, 20, 20);
}
}
}
This is form1 below.
namespace AmazingPaintball
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
Random positionX = new Random();
Random positionY = new Random();
Target einstein;
int count;
List<Point> ballList = new List<Point>();
Paintball gun;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
Point point = new Point(positionX.Next(0, 638), positionY.Next(0, 404));
einstein = new Target(point);
ptrEinstein.Location = point;
gun = new Paintball();
}
private void Form1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
ptrEinstein.Location = einstein.Move(e.KeyData);
pictureBox1.Update();
pictureBox1.Refresh();
}
private void pictureBox1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
count++;
gun.add(e.Location);
pictureBox1.Refresh();
}
private void pictureBox1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
foreach (var Paintball in ballList)
{
gun.paint(e.Graphics, this.PointToClient(Cursor.Position));
pictureBox1.Refresh();
}
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
timer1.Start();
}
private void pictureBox1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
pictureBox1.Refresh();
}
}
}
Please let me know if you know what has to be edited/created. Thank You
Your original code has many mistakes. Let's try to simplify what you are doing and tackle simply storing a list of points and drawing them to the picturebox.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
List<Point> ballList = new List<Point>();
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void pictureBox1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
ballList.Add(e.Location);
pictureBox1.Refresh();
}
private void pictureBox1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
foreach (Point pBall in ballList)
{
e.Graphics.FillEllipse(Brushes.Blue, pBall.X, pBall.Y, 20, 20);
}
}
}
Here we have a list, we add the click points to it in the click handler and paint them in the paint handler. Once you get comfortable with this, perhaps move to the next task in your program and ask a new question if you get stuck with the next feature.
Ok, I've got a bit of time, so let's look at your paintball class. I've renamed it Paintballs since it contains many of them and this name is more appropriate. If you want to keep the list of points private that's ok. You are trying to implement a Paint method in the class, but it takes a Point as argument and does not operate on any of the class's instance state - this probably isn't what you want. Consider now :
public class Paintballs
{
private List<Point> myClick;
public Paintballs()
{
myClick = new List<Point>();
}
public void Add(Point location)
{
myClick.Add(location);
}
public void Paint(Graphics g)
{
foreach (Point p in myClick)
{
g.FillEllipse(Brushes.Blue, p.X, p.Y, 20, 20);
}
}
}
Here we have a public Paint method that will draw all of the paintballs in the class to any graphics instance you pass to it. Now your form code would look like :
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
Paintballs pBalls = new Paintballs();
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void pictureBox1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
pBalls.Add(e.Location);
pictureBox1.Refresh();
}
private void pictureBox1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
pBalls.Paint(e.Graphics);
}
}
So we've simplified the form code by pushing the painting method into the paintballs class itself. This makes the class responsible for knowing what the paintballs look like, how many there are, where they are, and how to draw them to a Graphics object. This is step 1 in encapsulating responsibility.
You're drawing from a list of points stored in that ballList variable. However, you've never added any points to that list.
Make the myClick list in Paintball public and, in the pictureBox1_Paint method, iterate through that list instead of ballList.

Need Help In Drawing

Following is my code. i am trying to draw line, filled rectangle, etc.....
Problem is that, lets suppose i draw a line but when i try to draw an other line first drawn line disappears. so i want help that i'll be able to draw multiple shapes on a form and first draw lines don't disappears.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace finalPaint
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
List<Point> points = new List<Point>();
Rectangle rect;
Point first;
Point last;
string op;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button == MouseButtons.Left)
{
points.Add(e.Location);
rect = new Rectangle(rect.Left, rect.Top, e.X - rect.Left, e.Y - rect.Top);
last = e.Location;
this.Invalidate();
this.Update();
}
}
private void Form1_MouseUp(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
}
private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
switch (op)
{
case "toolStripButton1":
{
if (points.Count > 2)
{
e.Graphics.DrawLines(Pens.Black, points.ToArray());
}
}
break;
case "toolStripButton2":
{
using (Pen pen = new Pen(Color.Red, 2))
{
e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(pen, rect);
}
}
break;
case "toolStripButton3":
{
Pen pen = new Pen(Color.Red, 2);
e.Graphics.DrawLine(pen, first, last);
this.Update();
}
break;
case "toolStripButton4":
{
using (SolidBrush pen = new SolidBrush(Color.Red))
{
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(pen, rect);
}
}
break;
case "toolStripButton5":
{
using (SolidBrush pen = new SolidBrush(Color.Red))
{
e.Graphics.FillEllipse(pen, rect);
}
}
break;
case "toolStripButton6":
{
using (Pen pen = new Pen(Color.Red,2))
{
e.Graphics.DrawEllipse(pen, rect);
}
}
break;
default:
break;
}
}
private void Form1_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
rect = new Rectangle(e.X, e.Y, 0, 0);
first = e.Location;
this.Invalidate();
}
private void toolStrip1_ItemClicked(object sender, ToolStripItemClickedEventArgs e)
{
}
private void selectedButton(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
foreach (ToolStripButton btn in toolStrip1.Items)
{
btn.Checked = false;
}
ToolStripButton btnClicked = sender as ToolStripButton;
btnClicked.Checked = true;
op = btnClicked.Name;
}
}
}
On each Paint event, you need to paint all of the objects you want on the screen. You are not just painting on top of what is already there. You are repainting the entire scene.
The reason for this is that your control may be obscured from view at some point, and Windows will repaint it when it is revealed again.
If you want to keep a memory of all the the objects, you need to store them in your code. Since each object is different (lines, rectangles, ellipses) you will want to store them in a manner that lets you differentiate. You could create classes like this:
public class DrawingShape
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public DrawingShapeType Type { get; set; }
// other shared properties
public virtual void Draw(Graphics g)
{
}
}
public class DrawingRectangle : DrawingShape
{
public DrawingRectangle()
{
Name = "Rectangle";
Type = DrawingShapeType.Rectangle;
}
public override void Draw(Graphics g)
{
// draw this shape
}
}
public enum DrawingShapeType
{
Rectangle,
Ellipse,
Line,
}
Then you can just store all your objects in a List. The order of the items in the list is your z-order, so you add items to the list and you enumerate through the list in your Paint event and draw each one differently depending on the type.
From here you can store pen and brush information in the class and other info. Your Paint event can tell each class to paint itself and it doesn't need to know which type they are.
You need a possibility to store all your shapes, in order to draw them all in the Paint event, since the background of the form is repainted before each call to Paint. Let us define a base class from which we will derive all the shapes
abstract class Shape
{
public abstract void Paint(PaintEventArgs e);
public abstract void UpdateShape(Point newLocation);
}
Here we declare the abstract methods Paint and UpdateShape that we will have to override in the derived classes. UpdateShape will be called in MouseMove.
Let us start with the freeform line
class FreeformLine : Shape
{
private List<Point> _points = new List<Point>();
public FreeformLine(Point startLocation)
{
_points.Add(startLocation);
}
public override void Paint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (_points.Count >= 2) {
e.Graphics.DrawLines(Pens.Black, _points.ToArray());
}
}
public override void UpdateShape(Point newLocation)
{
const int minDist = 3;
// Add new point only if it has a minimal distance from the last one.
// This creates a smoother line.
Point last = _points[_points.Count - 1];
if (Math.Abs(newLocation.X - last.X) >= minDist ||
Math.Abs(newLocation.Y - last.Y) >= minDist)
{
_points.Add(newLocation);
}
}
}
Here we need a list of points. In the constructor, we pass the first point. The Paint method just executes the paint logic that you had already defined and the UpdateShape method adds new points to our points list.
The straight line works in a very similar way, but defines only the first and the last point.
class StraightLine : Shape
{
private Point _first;
private Point _last;
public StraightLine(Point startLocation)
{
_first = startLocation;
}
public override void Paint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (!_last.IsEmpty) {
Pen pen2 = new Pen(Color.Red, 2);
e.Graphics.DrawLine(pen2, _first, _last);
}
}
public override void UpdateShape(Point newLocation)
{
_last = newLocation;
}
}
We define only one rectangle class and add a variable in order to remember if the shape is filled or not.
class RectangleShape : Shape
{
protected bool _filled;
protected Rectangle _rect;
protected Point _start;
public RectangleShape(Point startLocation, bool filled)
{
_start = startLocation;
_rect = new Rectangle(startLocation.X, startLocation.Y, 0, 0);
_filled = filled;
}
public override void Paint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (_filled) {
using (SolidBrush brush = new SolidBrush(Color.Red)) {
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(brush, _rect);
}
} else {
using (Pen pen = new Pen(Color.Red, 2)) {
e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(pen, _rect);
}
}
}
public override void UpdateShape(Point newLocation)
{
int x = Math.Min(_start.X, newLocation.X);
int y = Math.Min(_start.Y, newLocation.Y);
int width = Math.Abs(newLocation.X - _start.X);
int height = Math.Abs(newLocation.Y - _start.Y);
_rect = new Rectangle(x, y, width, height);
}
}
Finally, we declare the ellipse class. Since this one uses a rectangle as well, we just derive it from our rectangle class.
class Ellipse : RectangleShape
{
public Ellipse(Point startLocation, bool filled)
: base(startLocation, filled)
{
}
public override void Paint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (_filled) {
using (SolidBrush brush = new SolidBrush(Color.Red)) {
e.Graphics.FillEllipse(brush, _rect);
}
} else {
using (Pen pen = new Pen(Color.Red, 2)) {
e.Graphics.DrawEllipse(pen, _rect);
}
}
}
}
Here we only override the Paint method. All the rectangle update logic remains the same.
Now to the form. Here we declare the global variables
List<Shape> _shapes = new List<Shape>();
Shape _lastShape;
string op;
In the mouse down event we create a new shape and add it to the list like this
private void Form1_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
switch (op) {
case "toolStripButton1":
_lastShape = new FreeformLine(e.Location);
break;
case "toolStripButton2":
_lastShape = new RectangleShape(e.Location, false);
break;
case "toolStripButton3":
_lastShape = new StraightLine(e.Location);
break;
case "toolStripButton4":
_lastShape = new RectangleShape(e.Location, true);
break;
case "toolStripButton5":
_lastShape = new Ellipse(e.Location, true);
break;
case "toolStripButton6":
_lastShape = new Ellipse(e.Location, false);
break;
default:
break;
}
_shapes.Add(_lastShape);
Refresh();
}
In the MouseMove we update the last shape like this
private void Form1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button == MouseButtons.Left && _lastShape != null) {
_lastShape.UpdateShape(e.Location);
this.Refresh();
}
}
The Paint method is now much simpler
private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
foreach (Shape shape in _shapes) {
shape.Paint(e);
}
}
Note that we do all the shape specific things in the shape classes, instead of doing them in the form. The only place in the form where have to care about the different shapes, is where we create the different shapes. This is a typical object-oriented approach. It is easier to maintain and to extend. You could add new shapes, with only a minimum changes in the form itself.

C# update GUI continuously from backgroundworker

I have created a GUI (winforms) and added a backgroundworker to run in a separate thread.
The backgroundworker needs to update 2 labels continuously.
The backgroundworker thread should start with button1 click and run forever.
class EcuData
{
public int RPM { get; set; }
public int MAP { get; set; }
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EcuData data = new EcuData
{
RPM = 0,
MAP = 0
};
BackWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(data);
}
private void BackWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
EcuData argumentData = e.Argument as EcuData;
int x = 0;
while (x<=10)
{
//
// Code for reading in data from hardware.
//
argumentData.RPM = x; //x is for testing only!
argumentData.MAP = x * 2; //x is for testing only!
e.Result = argumentData;
Thread.Sleep(100);
x++;
}
private void BackWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted_1(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
EcuData data = e.Result as EcuData;
label1.Text = data.RPM.ToString();
label2.Text = data.MAP.ToString();
}
}
The above code just updated the GUI when backgroundworker is done with his job, and that's not what I'm looking for.
You need to look at BackgroundWorker.ReportProgess.
You can use it to periodically pass back an object to a method in the main thread, which can update the labels for you.
You can use a System.Threading.Timer and update the UI from the Timer's callback method by calling BeginInvoke on the main Form.
uiUpdateTimer = new System.Threading.Timer(new TimerCallback(
UpdateUI), null, 200, 200);
private void UpdateUI(object state)
{
this.BeginInvoke(new MethodInvoker(UpdateUI));
}
private void UpdateUI()
{
// modify labels here
}
class EcuData
{
public int RPM { get; set; }
public int MAP { get; set; }
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EcuData data = new EcuData
{
RPM = 0,
MAP = 0
};
BackWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(data);
}
private void BackWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
EcuData argumentData = e.Argument as EcuData;
int x = 0;
while (x<=10)
{
e.Result = argumentData;
Thread.Sleep(100);
this.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
label1.Text = Convert.ToString(argumentData.RPM = x); //send hardware data later instead, x is for testing only!
label2.Text = Convert.ToString(argumentData.MAP = x * 2); //send hardware data later instead, x is for testing only!
});
x++;
}
}
This works, but it is the correct way of doing it?

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